


Back to the Start

by theauthor2010



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Reboot, Season 2, kurtofsky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-17
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-11-16 13:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/539761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all of the shocking occurrences in the short life of one Kurt Hummel, being kissed by David Karofsky in the boy's locker room was the most shocking by far.  S2 Reboot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Of all of the shocking occurrences in the short life of one Kurt Hummel, being kissed by David Karofsky in the boy's locker room was the most shocking by far. 

When he'd confronted Karofsky on pure impulse, Kurt had honestly expected to be hit. It wasn't that he thought that he deserved to be hit; it was just that the natural reaction to confronting a large, athletic bully was expecting pain - lots of pain. Kurt honestly hadn't cared, high on the adrenaline of finally calling out the bully whose attacks were getting more aggressive and personal every day. Karofsky had been making his life a living hell and Kurt wasn't going to be a victim anymore.

He had never expected the jock to grab him by the face and pull him into an intense, searing kiss that left him breathless and staring in horror and confusion. He was still left with that confusion. Karofsky had kissed him exactly five days ago. Three days ago he and Blaine had confronted Karofsky, only to watch him flee in horror.

Kurt and Blaine had discussed, at length, what it could have meant, but Kurt still felt absolutely lost. He had never been kissed before, at least, not by a boy. He had rationalized away the awkward make out session with Brittany, because he was just being insecure and stupid. He couldn't make this one go away, not with all of the flawed logic in the world. 

Then, of course, there was the issue of Karofsky himself. "He must have been harboring issues with his sexuality for quite some time," Blaine said, as they sat across from one another at the Lima Bean, coffee cups between them and Blaine staring at him with a sweet, concerned expression. Kurt appreciated the new friendship with Blaine, immensely. Blaine hadn't initially realized how much the kiss had affected Kurt but now that he realized was trying to help. 

"I just don't understand," Kurt said softly. He didn't want to talk about the issue too loudly in public, because it was a delicate one. "I-I mean…is there something I'm supposed to do?" This wasn't exactly a situation he was equipped to deal with. He still hated Karofsky for what he'd done, but now he was wondering what motives lay behind it. He was wondering if there was a small sliver of him that felt sympathy for the bully.

Yeah, perhaps a very small sliver of sympathy existed. Kurt really couldn't feel bad for Karofsky after all he had done, but at the same time if he knew what was going on in his head, the sympathy might be there. The situation was one that he wasn't prepared to be in with anyone, especially not the worst bully at school. "I don't think there's much you can do," Blaine told Kurt, frowning a little and loosening his uniform tie out of nervousness. "I think that you still have to make it clear that bullying isn't going to be acceptable, but at the same time his feelings are worth exploring. We can help him realize he's not alone, if he's gay and struggling with it." 

"I don't think he wants help," Kurt said. He wasn't a bad person; he would help Dave Karofsky, but he wasn't sure that the boy would ever be willing. "I mean, it's worth a shot but still…" 

"I get you," Blaine said softly. "Don't worry so much Kurt, okay? We're going to handle this. I'm here whenever you need to talk and if he keeps up the bullying then we'll make your school start listening." Kurt smiled at Blaine's words. There was something about Blaine that was so confident and secure. It was awesome to have a friend who was gay, out and confident in himself and in his life. It really helped put things back into perspective for Kurt. He was just worried about things getting worse.

As he predicted, things got a whole lot worse in wake of the kiss. Karofsky was furious and so frantic, so afraid. He was terrified that Kurt was going to tell someone (well, someone else...) about the kiss and he was getting scarier by the second. He eyed Kurt from across the hall, glaring at him. He stopped shoving Kurt into lockers, which was nice, but the moment he got Kurt alone, Kurt realized just how frantically terrified he was. 

"Alright homo, we have to talk," he said, looking from side to side to make sure that nobody was looking at them. He pulled Kurt into an empty classroom. Kurt should have been terrified for his life, but honestly he wasn't. "You can't...tell anyone what happened. I swear to God, Hummel, you so much as breathe a word to someone else and I'll kill you." 

Kurt winced at the threat. It wasn't that he believed the bully would actually kill him, but there was enough intensity in the threat for his heart to leap. David was afraid. Fear was a powerful motivator to violence.

"I promise you that I won't tell," he said, pausing with consideration. Kurt wasn't entirely sure if blackmailing Karofsky was a morally sound thing to do, but he had to protect himself first. "I won't tell if you swear that from now on you'll leave me alone. No more shoving me around, no more comments…nothing." 

The other boy hesitated. "I…" Kurt watched and could tell that he was afraid of being taunted. Karofsky nodded quickly though. "Okay, I swear. We have a deal. Just…please." 

Kurt could not believe that his bullying problem was suddenly over. It was one of those things that he had started to get used to. It was one of those things that was just his burden to bear. Nobody else cared and Kurt had to deal with it alone. He left feeling a lot better about everything.

Kurt, of course, immediately reported back to Blaine about the deal he'd struck with Karofsky. "I feel a little bad about it," he said into the phone, glad that Blaine wasn't able to see the blush on his cheeks. Kurt had a little bit of a crush on the Dalton boy and the topics at hand were so sensitive and private. "Blackmail isn't exactly my style, but at the same time it's a way to keep him away from me. Yeah, I'm still bullied pretty badly at school, but his attacks were…the worse. They were violent and…" 

"Personal," Blaine filled in immediately. "They were pretty personal. Personally, I think that you did the right thing. It's a surefire way to protect yourself." 

"Yeah it is." 

"Now cheer up and let's get some coffee," Blaine said. "I'm coming down to the Lima Bean again tonight." 

"You travel a long way for coffee," Kurt commented. 

Blaine just laughed. "See you there, Kurt."


	2. Chapter 2

After he and Dave struck their deal, things started to go very good in Kurt’s world. Kurt was kept very busy by school and preparing for Sectionals and well, his friendship with Blaine was pretty great. Kurt had never known another openly gay person and admired Blaine greatly.

He looked down to his phone, smiling to himself at the hundreds of texts he and Blaine had exchanged over the past couple of weeks. The truth was, the moment that he met Blaine at Dalton, the boy had given him courage, but now their friendship was just as valuable as the symbol of what it meant. Kurt loved having a close friend who understood what he was going through.

Kurt did, however, notice a lot of changes in Dave Karofsky. First of all, the bullying had not only stopped, but Dave had gone absolutely quiet. He stood sullenly in the hallways and sat mostly alone at lunch. It was like the kiss and the subsequent fear of being exposed had absolutely paralyzed the boy. It was a week after the deal was made when Kurt overheard a halted conversation between Azimio and Karofsky.

“What the hell’s gotten into you man?” 

Karofsky hadn’t even been able to give a good excuse for his change in behavior. “Just shut up dude,” he said quickly, shoving the other boy and heading down the hall. Azimio was left staring at the hall that Dave had walked down. When he turned back, he looked straight at Kurt. “What the hell are you looking at homo?” he asked, before stalking off in the opposite direction.

Kurt felt sorry for Karofsky.

At the end of that week, Blaine asked Kurt to hang out with some of his friends. That was how Kurt found himself at a little café with Blaine and three other Warblers. These weren’t the boys he met when he arrived at Dalton, but three boys named Nick, Jeff and Trent. Trent was gay and Jeff identified as pansexual. It was something that they both shared with him completely willingly. Kurt was shocked.

He felt like he fit in with the boys. They weren’t like the boys at McKinley. They were a lot more similar to Kurt than his friends at McKinley, even though he loved and respected them. 

Dalton was definitely a bully-free zone with its zero tolerance policy. “Frankly, I don’t know how you handle that kind of stuff,” Trent said, looking at Kurt and Blaine and shaking his head. “I was screwed with so badly at my old school that Dalton was like some kind of salvation, seriously.” 

“It seems like a lot of schools see what’s going on and don’t do anything about it,” Nick said softly.

“It’s true,” Kurt said. “I mean, I reached a pretty good place and I’m fine now, but the teachers and staff at McKinley, they don’t care. They keep letting it happen.”

“You have no idea how many times I went to the administration at my old school,” Trent lamented. 

“Trust me,” Kurt said. “I do.” 

He really related with the other boys but there was one thing that he knew nobody at Dalton had ever dealt with. Not even Blaine, who seemed to be one of the most patient guys Kurt knew, could actually say that he had forgiven his bullies for their transgressions against him. Kurt definitely wasn’t forgiving Dave Karofsky per say, but he was feeling a pity towards him that could lead to that someday. 

Kurt tried his best to talk to Dave in the days following their deal with one another, but failed completely because of his busy life and well there was the fact that Dave was completely avoiding him at every turn. The weird part was that Kurt thought about Dave almost all the time.

The more Kurt talked to his new friends from Dalton, the more he realized about sexuality. It was a complicated spectrum and not nearly as black and white as Kurt once believed. He also learned that he wasn’t alone dealing with bullies. “You have no idea how many friends of mine have come to Dalton because they were escaping bullying,” Nick told him, looking distraught over that. “I know I was raised right, because I j-just never thought differences like that mattered.” 

“Dalton’s the first school where I ever felt safe being out to my friends,” Jeff said honestly.

Kurt and Trent found another amusing sexuality related story to share. “My mom said that she knew I was gay from the moment I could walk and talk,” Trent said with a slight laugh. “I told her that I wanted to be Sleeping Beauty and when she asked why I said it was because only she got to marry Prince Phillip.” 

Kurt snorted at that. “My dad knew since I was three,” he said with a fond smile. “That’s what he told me when I came out. Apparently straight children don’t ask for high heels most of the time.” 

“Some straight children do, trust me,” Nick said with a dorky smile. 

“Sometimes I wonder what it’s like for kids who are gay, but it’s not obvious to the outside,” Kurt said softly. “Like…jocks, who may or may not be in the closet and…nobody knows. It’s a lot harder, I imagine, for them to be open with others. It’s probably even harder for them to be open about themselves.” 

Blaine chose just that moment to walk into the room, of course. He looked at Kurt with a sad, knowing expression. “Yeah,” he said softly, putting a hand on Kurt’s shoulder and then sitting right down next to him. “It really must be.” 

Kurt knew that he really had to have a conversation with Dave, even if it didn’t turn out the way he wanted it too. He was going to drive himself crazy if they didn’t talk.


	3. Chapter 3

Kurt found Dave one day by the bleachers. This was just after school. "Karofsky," he said. The boy immediately grew defensive, standing up and staring at Kurt with a look that was supposed to be intimidating, but really came off as terrified. 

"Hummel, what do you want?" he practically growled at him.

"I-I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to do this alone."

At his words, Karofsky got right in his face. Kurt stepped back, suddenly scared. "Let me make this clear, homo," Karofsky said. "There is nothing for me to deal with."

Kurt almost left then but decided to try one more thing before his fear got the best of him. "David," he said gently, "when did you first realize that you were attracted to guys?" He had looked around first to make sure that nobody was listening, but Kurt knew he honestly had a death wish, asking Karofsky that of all things.

Kurt honestly thought that he was going to get himself punched. “It’s not that I like guys,” Karofsky said gruffly, with a sadness that honestly broke Kurt’s heart in a way. “It’s that I don’t like girls. That’s the goddamned problem… I’m not a freakin’ fag.” 

Kurt winced at the word. “It’s okay to like guys, girls, both, neither,” Kurt said, trying his best to make a point. “It’s natural to be afraid but you’re okay the way you are…”

“I’m not gay.”

“Do you like boys?” Kurt asked gently. 

Dave nodded.

“You’re not alone,” he told Dave softly. “I mean there are so many people out there with so many varied sexualities.” 

“I can’t let people know,” Dave said softly. “I’ve already lost enough.”

“What’ve you really got to lose then?” Kurt said, trying to be encouraging. He was trying to be delicate. “You also don’t have to come out now, not by far. You may not be ready. All you have to do is learn and stop bullying.”

“You took care of that.” 

“I mean of your own free will,” Kurt said softly. 

“Why did you have to take everything from me?” Dave asked him. The pain in his eyes was the worst thing that Kurt had ever seen. He was hurting so badly and Kurt really wished that he could make it stop. 

“You haven’t lost anything,” Kurt said gently.

Dave groaned and shoved him hard as he walked past. Kurt stumbled slightly, but caught himself and then looked at the boy with a long, sad expression. He honestly felt sorry for Dave. He didn’t realize that there were so many good things in the world. He didn’t realize that his sexuality was just a small part of who he was and it didn’t have to hold him back. Of course, Kurt couldn’t blame him. This was high school and this was Ohio.

 

Dave believed the same thing that Kurt did. This was high school and this was Ohio. That meant there was no way he was going to be allowed to be gay. He wasn’t stupid. He saw the way that people reacted around gay people. Maybe one day things would be different, but right now they weren’t. Call him a coward if you wanted to, but he wasn’t going to be able to do it. 

Life had become so frustrating. He had known for a couple of years that he wasn’t looking at girls the way that he was supposed to, but it was only in the last year that it had really become hard to ignore. He could fake it as well as anyone could, but there was something deep inside of him, something that he was afraid that people saw plain as day. 

He thought about what Kurt said and he could only really see disaster in coming out about being gay. His father was the only adult in his life who might partially understand, but he still saw the world in an “us versus them” way when it came to “the gays.” His mother was religious and thought gay people were going to hell. His friends, well, his friends talked about the “fags” and “queers” all the time. There was just no escape route for him.

He walked into the locker room and set his bag down on the bench. It was ridiculous. If he hadn’t kissed Hummel in this very locker room then everything would be okay. He would be normal. Nobody would know the secret that he had been keeping in for years. He reached for his lock to undo it when he heard some fighting, yelling. It was standard fair. He recognized the voices. Puck and Mike and probably some of the other glee jocks were fighting with Azimio, Martin, Rogers. It was all so typical that Dave almost just rolled his eyes and walked back out, but instead he undid his lock and changed his clothes.

The fighting moved into the other part of the locker room where Dave was. “Just lay off,” Chang snarled, as the shoving started. “Just because you’re so insecure in your masculinity that you can’t handle the glee club’s existence…”

He sighed and then put the rest of his clothes in the locker and shut it off. It was a constant struggle, being in high school and he just couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Karofsky,” Rogers called, gripping him by the shoulder. “Why the hell aren’t you saying anything to the homo rangers?” 

“Not worth my time,” he said, shoving the other boy off of him. When were they going to get that he didn’t care? He was not going to get involved in this shit anymore because he didn’t care. It wasn’t because of Kurt…

“I swear sometimes I think you’re turning gay like the rest of them,” Rogers said with a laugh, shoving him into the wall. “Wanna join them and go sing a couple of love songs? C’mon man. Something’s wrong with you lately.” 

“It’s true man,” Azimio said. His best friend was part of the problem, sad as it was. “You’ve changed. What the hell is wrong with you?” 

“Get off of me!” Dave roared, pushing Rogers back and into a wall. He had no idea how it turned into a sort of shoving match, but it did. He and Rogers shoved each other back and forth before the first punch was thrown. Dave wasn’t even sure if it was the jackass in front of him or his, because he felt pain but he saw blood that wasn’t his too. His head spun and he wanted it all to stop. Luckily or unluckily, it did stop because pretty soon Coach Beiste came out of her office and had put herself between the two of them. “Rogers, Figgins office now. Karofsky, mine.”

At least it was over.


	4. Chapter 4

Dave didn't object when Coach Beiste took him to her office. "What was that all about Dave?" she asked. She looked at him with a deep, meaningful expression that drove him a little crazy. How was he supposed to respond to something so emotionally charged when his head was all kinds of screwed up? She was going to push something out of him that he’d regret. 

He looked at her and didn't know what to say. "I didn't start it," Dave said seriously. "It was all Rogers doing."

" I know it was honey," she said just as seriously as he did. "I just want to know what was going on."

"It was just Rogers being a jackass," Dave said, "he always messes with the glee losers."

"Yeah," she said, "but so do you. What's so different about this time? Why you defending those boys? Has something changed in your life honey?" She looked so genuinely concerned that he didn't know what to say. He was caught off guard. He was left stammering at her and looking like a total idiot. 

“Nothing’s new,” he practically snapped. “I just…I’m tired of all the ridiculous fighting and needless drama. We’re too old to be throwing punches in the locker room, right?”

“You ain’t gonna hear me object to that,” Coach Beiste said. “Something else is wrong though. I’m not a fool and you can’t make me out to be one. Talk to me, kid. I swear that anything you say’s gonna stay between you and me and ain’t ever gonna leave this room.” She looked at him again with a deeply concerned expression and Dave wondered something for a minute. He didn’t want to say it but it pressed on the back of his mind so hard that it eventually came out.

“Are you gay?” he asked Coach Beiste, immediately regretting the words the second they left him. 

She flinched at his words but shook her head. “Nah sugar, I’m not,” she said. “I get mistaken for gay a lot though. Damned stereotypes, but it ain’t that bad except when it drives people away from wanting to date. No shame in being mistaken for gay, just like there’s no shame in being gay.” 

Of course she would believe that. Dave sighed and then put a hand to his head and groaned. 

That was when a light seemed to go off in his coach’s head. “David,” she said softly, using his full name, which kind of surprised him. He was always Karofsky to his football coach, maybe Dave if things got personal. He looked up at her when she said his name. The next question she asked, although expected, made him want to run out of the room in anger, or maybe in tears. “Sweetheart, are you gay?” 

Dave looked up at her and all of the default responses weren’t there. He could have told her that hell no, he wasn’t a faggot. He could have told her that she was being sick. He could have said anything but instead he said nothing and looked back down. With his downward glance, she knew. 

“There is absolutely nothin’ wrong with being gay,” the Coach said seriously. “It’s just another kind of being human. We all have the same old feelings.” 

Dave sighed and then got up. “Can I go?” he asked the woman. It was bad enough that Kurt and his preppy hair gel wearing boyfriend knew. Now Coach Beiste knew and it wouldn’t be long until the whole school knew. 

“Yeah,” she said softly. “You can go David, but I wanna let you know that Will and I are planning something that’s gonna bring the Glee club and the rest closer together. You’ll really enjoy making friends with those kids, I promise you.” 

It was revealed the next day exactly what Coach Beiste’s plans for the football team were. “We are gonna be joining the Glee club for one month,” she said seriously. “Any guy who refuses is gonna be cut, plain and simple. They need some extra members for choreography’s sake and the month will help them out. I also think that most of you boys need a lesson or two in respect.”

Dave sat quietly while the arguments began. “You ain’t gonna make me sing no showtunes!” Azimio yelled, looking as though Coach Beiste had just kicked him in the face. Maybe she had, mentally. 

“Don’t worry Adams,” she snipped, “you’ll only be singing backup vocals, so nobody’s gonna hear your amazing voice.” 

Dave didn’t say anything as some of the players started threatening calling their parents, their lawyers, anything they could do. Coach Beiste was really going to put herself through hell for a lost cause and that was kind of sad to him. Determined to keep his vow of silence, Dave didn’t say a word. He just sat quietly in the back of the room and listened to it all go down. He would join glee club and he wouldn’t complain about it, but there was no way in hell that it was going to make his life any better. 

After the very first glee club rehearsal Dave decided that he kind of liked singing and dancing. Maybe he was gay for a reason. No straight guy was going to enjoy it as much as he had. He was confronted immediately after, though, by a very concerned group of glee students. Finn Hudson looked at him with a worried, skeptical expression. “What’s the deal Karofsky?” he asked. “Why has your tune changed so much?” 

“I dunno, you’re the master of the tunes, aren’t you Hudson?” Dave asked darkly.

Finn rolled his eyes at the joke. Maybe he hadn’t understood it. “You go from bullying Kurt like crazy to being all quiet and messed up, joining us and not making a mess like all the other guys. Why?”

“Because I’m tired!” Dave yelled, before getting up and walking away. He caught Kurt’s eye as he walked out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

As much as Dave felt like he’d lost everything, it was still hard to admit that he enjoyed performing with the glee club. He did, however, enjoy it a lot. It helped him get lost and forget about the conflicting and terrifying thoughts that occurred inside of his head. It helped him get those emotions out through song and dance, even though he was just a background player. He really enjoyed it and if the director of the glee club was to be believed then he had a real talent for doing it. He wasn’t sure if he could trust the man’s judgment though. 

“You’re really talented David,” the man had said, pulling him aside after one of the rehearsals. “You should keep this up even after Shannon pulls the football team. I can tell that you have a passion for it and you’re very, very good. I can see it in your eyes.” 

He hadn’t said anything to the comments Schuester had given him. He had just nodded and then walked off. It was rude and he knew it, but he was honestly thinking about staying. He was honestly thinking about the good that staying could do for him, while he simultaneously destroyed everything that had once defined him. When everything was gone he was going to need something left, wasn’t he? This could potentially be that something left over. It was getting harder and harder to pretend he didn’t enjoy it, anyway.

It wasn’t exactly enjoyable, however, when Scott Cooper and his band of hockey cronies decided to make Dave the target of a slushie attack. It took one split second but Dave swore that his heart snapped into pieces right along with the cold ice hitting him in the face. The red dye burned his eyes and he looked up with horror as he realized that it was over. It was all over. “You asked for it,” the hockey dudes murmured as they walked away. 

Finn Hudson was actually the one to take charge in getting him cleaned up. Mike Chang followed him. Dave hated that the glee kids were right there to see it. He hated that the pair of boys had to actually see him like that, struggling not to lose his shit. 

“Don’t blink so much,” Chang said quickly as Hudson ran a washcloth under the hot water from the sink. Dave didn’t even know where he’d gotten the washcloth from. Dave tried to follow Mike’s suggestion and stop blinking his eyes hysterically. The two boys helped him wash his face off and then Finn looked up and down at his clothes. 

“Do you have spare clothes?” he asked. 

Dave nodded quickly and muttered that they were in his football locker. Without a word Hudson and Chang ushered him to the football locker room. Dave felt like he was going insane. Why were they helping him? It didn’t make any sense and it was actually more frustrating than anything. He had treated them like shit.

He changed his clothes without another word to the two boys in front of him. Their presence was infuriating him. He didn’t understand why they were helping him out. Yes, he knew instinctively that they were good people, but nobody was good enough to be nice to someone like Dave. He was a bully, a jerk. They both should have been laughing over the fact that karma was a bitch. 

It took him until he was finally dressed to ask them why. “Why are you guys helping me?” he asked, deciding that he would have to be up-front if he was going to get some kind of answers. “I’m serious. What’s your game?”

“No game at all,” Chang mumbled, looking awkwardly from Dave to Hudson.

The other boy agreed with a nod. “We’re doing it because that’s what good guys do for each other,” Hudson said awkwardly. “Despite the crap you’ve put the glee kids through, Mike and I can see that there’s a part of you that wants to be a decent person. That’s enough for us. I mean…we did a lot of stupid stuff before we joined up, too.”

“I am not a good person,” Dave said firmly. “I’ve treated you all like crap. I’ve slushied you and shoved you into things and…Hummel, I’ve done terrible things to Hummel.” He didn’t know why he was saying this to them but he wanted them to realize that he was not a good person. There was no way he could work to redeem himself because the things he’d done in the past were unforgivable. “I threatened him! I did worse but I can’t say…”

“Dude, your argument is weak,” Hudson said laughing as he pat Dave on the shoulder. “C’mon Mike we have to go meet Mr. Schue, remember?”

“Oh yeah…” Chang mumbled, walking after him. 

Later, Hudson caught him alone in the choir room on his way out. “I meant what I said earlier,” he said awkwardly. “I also know for a fact that you’re a lot more talented than any of the other football guys. You have a good voice.”

“How can you tell with that diva girlfriend of yours wailing up front?” Dave asked, trying to defend himself to the best of his ability.

Finn didn’t even flinch at his insult. He actually rolled his eyes a little. “I can just tell,” he said. “You have a sense of rhythm and the whole group sounds a little better since you joined.” 

Dave didn’t believe him, but he listened. 

“I’d really like you to join the club permanently,” Hudson said with a thoughtful look on his face. He smiled and Dave could tell that he was nervous. “I think that it’d really help you deal with whatever it is that you’re going through right now. I also think that second chances are the most important thing there is…so yeah…” 

“I’ll consider,” Dave said.

“All I ask,” Finn said with a bright smile before he turned around. Dave did not understand any of the Glee kids. Seriously. Not at all.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt watched Dave rehearse from afar. He had finished his part of the choreography and was sitting with Tina. He could not, however, stop looking at the jock. Dave Karofsky was good at what he did. He had a pretty good sense of rhythm and Kurt knew that if he got the bigger boy alone then he was going to find out that Dave had a good voice too. He just didn’t get how someone could hide their talent. Of course, there was a lot about himself that Dave seemed to hide from the world.

He wondered if people really were capable of changing their ways. It was simply said that David had done a lot of bad in the past. He had hurt a lot of people. Kurt, himself, was one of Dave’s main victims, but not the only person to have suffered at his hand. Still, despite the things that David had done in the past, Kurt believed that people could change. He truly did believe that, even though the idea made him a little bit uneasy.

To: Blaine  
From: Kurt  
Do you think people can change, Blaine?

It was probably a stupid question to ask Blaine. Kurt had no doubt in his mind that it was, at least, a stupidly vague question to ask the Warbler. It was a kind of silly question that had a variety of answers for a variety of situations. Kurt sat back in his chair and watched Dave curiously, waiting for a response.

Five minutes later a response came from Blaine. He looked down at his phone. Blaine’s conclusion was that he was sometimes doubtful of people’s capabilities to change, but he tried to be positive and hopeful. Kurt smiled to himself. Blaine was, undoubtedly, one of the most thoughtful people that Kurt knew. 

It didn’t give any answers though.

On the night of the big football game, the idiot jocks refused to perform. Kurt had been worried about something like that happening since the moment glee and football had been forced to join reluctant forces. “Aint no way we’re going out there.” Kurt sighed at the words and watched as the boys who were in both glee and football tried to regulate what was going on. 

Kurt watched in horror as the argument escalated. Why on earth did the idiot jocks wait until the last second to back down? He stood back, concerned.

It was actually Puck who stood up and told the jocks what was up. "Suck it up and act like real men," he snarled, looking to the other boys with total disappointment. "Real men don't back down from their promises and ya'll made a promise. Whether or not it makes you look stupid, you made a promise to this club."

Looking at Puck with total admiration, Kurt decided that yes, people could change. Puck had come a long way since his days of tossing Kurt into the nearest dumpster. He was strong, smart and stood up for the little guy in a way that was endearing Kurt to him more and more by the day. If Puck could change his ways then other people could. 

It was then that Dave kind of launched in on the jocks. “Are you guys idiots?” Dave asked. “I’ve been given more shit than all of you combined since this glee thing started. If we back down, we’re not hiding the fact that we’re fairies or queers or whatever you think singing and dancing makes you. We’re showing everyone that we’re unable to play football too. Don’t you dare think of backing down now.” 

He then stormed off to get ready. Kurt was beyond impressed. He was glad to be able to relax and go watch the game with Blaine though.

The first half of the game was rough. McKinley did very poorly and Kurt instinctively suspected some kind of sabotage. “They don’t suck this much,” he told Blaine, who was sitting next to him and looking uncomfortable at best. “I’ve seen old games and I was their kicker when they did suck. This just isn’t right.” 

“But is it nerves over what they have to do, or is it sabotage?” Blaine asked. Kurt shook his head at that because he really didn’t have the answer. He could not tell. “Hey it’ll be okay,” Blaine said gently.

They watched in mostly silence. Blaine’s hand lingered near Kurt’s shoulder for most of the first half, something that was incredibly exciting to Kurt. He wasn’t sure if he was attracted to Blaine in that way, but having a gay guy as a mentor and friend was thrilling to Kurt, who didn’t know many gay people. 

It wasn’t long before Kurt had to go change for the halftime number. Blaine gave him a soft smile and a wave that made his head spin. Blaine was incredibly charming. “Good luck!” Blaine said brightly and then Kurt was off.

The halftime number was really fun and exciting. The school seemed to yet again forget that they hated the glee club. Kurt also couldn’t help sneak glances at Dave. He was so happy. Kurt just loved the way he looked when he smiled. He was seeing the boy in a completely different light and wondering if glee could save him in the same way that it ended up saving Kurt. 

The second half of the game was better than the first. The jocks were evidently a little less terrible when their humiliation was over. They barely scraped by with a win but they got it by just a couple of points. Kurt was excited for them, especially Dave. He just felt like Dave deserved the best after all he’d been through. After the win Kurt and Blaine rushed down from the stands. “Dave!” he called to the jock before running over. He wasn’t going to contain his excitement.

“Hey,” Dave mumbled.

Kurt was quick to greet him. “I really admire the way that you played today,” he said honestly. “Even when the team was sucking, you did so much…” 

Dave looked a little sad when he responded, despite the glorious nature of McKinley’s victory. “I just gave it my all really,” he told Kurt. He nodded awkwardly at Blaine, the same gloomy expression never really leaving his face. “I’m glad that we won. The first half was really, really embarrassing.” 

“It was but you killed at the end, son.” 

They all turned in that moment to see a middle-aged man with grey hair. He looked at them and nodded. “I’m Paul, David’s father,” he said, introducing himself. Kurt and Blaine awkwardly introduced themselves back. Kurt couldn’t help notice how much Dave looked like his father. The man half-hugged his son. “That was a great game David. Glad I could come to this one. You know how work gets but I could not miss the big one.”

“I’m glad you didn’t…” Dave said with obvious discomfort, shifting. 

“Your team seemed like a bunch of slackers in the first half though,” his father said narrowing his eyebrows.

“They did.” 

“That performing thing was kind of interesting too; it really added to the excitement.” The man seemed so enthusiastic about the performing. Dave was bright red. Kurt was confused. He didn’t understand. Dave’s father seemed very energetic and he most definitely wasn’t the bigoted red-state conservative American Dad that Kurt imagined. He had always assumed. He frowned as his assumptions were greatly challenged.


	7. Chapter 7

Dave was alone before school when Kurt approached. The boy strutted up to him boldly. That was something that had always floored him about Kurt Hummel. He could do all of these terrible things to him, but Kurt never cowered. The kid always looked him straight in the eye. It was an amazing thing to think about how flawlessly brave he was. 

“What is it?” Dave asked. 

“I just want to know one thing,” Kurt said boldly. “Why is it, exactly, that you’ve been so hateful? I’ve tried to understand but I just don’t get it.” 

Dave struggled to answer. Kurt was asking for answers and the truth of the matter was that he didn’t have them. There was no excuse for the way that he had treated Kurt. When he didn’t answer, Kurt had more questions for him.

“Is it okay at home?” Kurt asked him, with a delicate expression that reminded Dave of a therapist or something. He felt immediately offended that Kurt would blame his home life on his bullying, but then he remembered that it was sort of the default source of personal trauma. 

“Yes, yes,” Dave said. “Things are good at home. Fine.” 

“Then why?” Kurt asked, his brow furrowed. 

“Look, a pair of fags!” yelled one of Scott Cooper’s hockey minions as he passed the pair in the hallway. He strode over to them with a cocky grin on his face. He looked at them like he dared them to try and deny his accusation of homosexuality.

“That is why,” Dave told Kurt plainly, his voice low.

Kurt sighed. “Don’t worry about him Dave,” he said, showing Dave what bravery truly was by marching up to the jock and meeting him with the same fierce look in his eyes that Dave saw that day in the locker room. It was surreal. Kurt was going to get himself killed. “Do you really think that you scare me? I’m going to be successful and you’ll be forever wrapped up into a life of making other people feel bad about themselves. Is that what you really want?”

Kurt would have got himself punched in the face if the first bell didn’t lead to an influx of people in the hallway. “You’re lucky I can’t get in trouble or I’ll get expelled Hummel,” the boy snarled before taking off down the hallway. “I’ll get you sooner or later. You too Karofsky, when you and your lady boy least expect it.” 

Dave could hardly express his admiration of Kurt in that situation. “I don’t know why you’re so brave,” he finally said. It didn’t make any sense to him.

“I’m not brave,” Kurt said softly watching as the would-be assailant made his way far away from them. “Unlike you David, I just never had the option of hiding who I am.” 

Dave thought about that for a moment. Nobody would know his secret just by looking at him, even though he often felt that they’d be able to read it on his skin. Kurt was gay and people knew he was gay. People assumed he was gay. He sighed. He wasn’t sure which one was really the luxury. “I’ll see you later,” he told Kurt.

“Yeah,” Kurt mumbled.  
He knew that no matter what he did he had to be braver. He had to show the world that he was worthy. He had to show Kurt that he was just as brave even without being invisible.

As the days passed Dave grew braver and more willing to face himself. It wasn’t to say that he came out as gay or anything, but he acknowledged those who would bully him and the members of the glee club. He became a more active member of the glee club. He stood up against the idiot jocks that were all around him. It was a good start. He even developed a friendship with Kurt. Kurt talked to him about everything he was ready and willing to, including the idea of coming out of the closet. Kurt approached the topic only gently and hesitantly. 

“You know that you don’t have to come out until you’re ready, but when you do there is going to be a ton of support for you.” 

Dave tried to imagine coming out, but could not. “I’m terrified of it,” he admitted.

Kurt comforted him with a hand on his shoulder. “When it’s time you’ll know,” he said. “I’ll also be there for you.” 

Dave took comfort in that. He could come out when he was ready but until that time, nobody had to know. Nobody, that was, except Santana. 

It was late afternoon when Santana approached him. She was wearing her cheerios uniform and flipped her hair to the side as she spoke. “I know,” she said bluntly.  
“Know what?” he asked.  
“That you’re gay,” she said. 

Horror struck. There was no way that Santana could know. The only people who knew were Kurt and that little gay boyfriend of his. They would never tell though, would they? “Yeah right,” he said, defensively, jumping back into his old ways. “I’m no queer and you know that Lopez.” He kind of hated himself for the defense mechanism but it was all he could do in that situation. 

“Yeah right,” she said, echoing his words right back at him. “I saw you checking out Sam’s ass the other day and it all came together. Who else would bully the gay kids so much then a grade-A closeted homosexual?”

Everything blurred as he denied her frantically. He explained himself, told her why he couldn’t be gay. He kept talking until she said three words that stopped him in his tracks.  
“I am too.”

Her words caught him off guard. He stopped and didn’t speak again until he was able to ask her, “You are?”

“Well I like girls,” she said, looking unsure. “I don’t want people to know.”

He stared in amazement. Nobody would think of Santana Lopez as gay, ever. She had quite a reputation with the boys of McKinley and she didn’t look the part either. The fact that she liked girls was almost as amazing to Dave as the fact that he was cursed with liking boys.   
She waved her hand in front of his face. “David,” she said. “You ever hear the term beards?” she asked. She looked at him with a smile that seemed almost venomous. “Dave Karofsky, will you please be my beard? In return I shall be yours.” 

Somehow he found himself saying yes. By the following Monday everyone in the whole school knew that Santana Lopez and Dave Karofsky were dating. Everyone, including Kurt. Dave waited, expecting the other boy’s complete judgment but it never came. It never came at all and finally he confronted Kurt about it.   
“Don’t you have something to say?” he asked Kurt.

“You mean about your girlfriend?” Kurt asked, looking up at him with a sympathetic expression. “I’m not going to lie, I initially judged you, a lot. I judged and I judged hard but I decided I’m not going to. You obviously have your reasons for what you’re doing. I just have one simple question that I want answered honestly: Is Santana blackmailing you?”

Dave sighed, wishing that he could answer untruthfully. “Yes, she is,” he said.  
Kurt immediately jumped to his defense. “She can’t do that,” he said. “I won’t let her harass you on account of your sexuality Dave…”

The protectiveness was really cute, but Dave had to put a stop to it. “No Kurt,” he said softly. He looked into the boy’s crystal clear eyes. “She’s a bitch, yes, but she’s going through a pain that I understand too well.”

A realization dawned on Kurt’s face and Dave felt a little guilty. The boy nodded shakily. 

“Alright Dave,” he said. “I’ll keep quiet. Just please be as careful as you can. Santana is as vicious as a person can get and she will do what she has to in order to survive.” Kurt’s tone lightened a little. “Oh and congratulations on the Prom King nomination.” A mischievous grin crossed his impish face.

“What?” Dave asked.

Kurt’s eyes widened. “You mean you don’t know?” he asked. “You and the lovely Miss Lopez are on the ballot. She’s been bragging about it all day.”


	8. Chapter 8

Dave found Santana a few short moments later. “What the hell is this prom thing about?” he asked her, angry and a little scared. 

She seemed nonplussed by his aggression. “David, you and I are running for Junior Prom King and Queen,” she said. “It’s the social boost we both need. It’ll help a lot of things in our lives go smoothly.”

“I’m not going to do this.” 

“Look, as my boyfriend, you are,” Santana said firmly. She crossed her arms and looked into his eyes. “You want to be straight, right? You want to live the fantasy? Then you’re going to do this.”

He looked at her desperately but eventually gave in. “Fine.”

People were just about as confused about the prom run as Dave was. Some people were even infuriated by it. A few days after Santana and Dave started their campaign (read: Santana started her campaign) Dave was approached by a furious Quinn Fabray who honestly scared the crap out of him, just a bit.

She looked absolutely furious. Her hair was messy and her eyes showed that the queen of McKinley was more than a little bit unhinged. “What are you and Santana trying to pull?” she snapped. He honestly thought for a minute that she was going to try and attack him. 

“You mean running for Prom King and Queen?” he asked. He shrugged his shoulders nervously. She had no reason to intimidate him, being half of his size, but she was scary, truth be told.

“This doesn’t add up,” she said. It didn’t, Dave admitted inwardly. “I will find out what you’re up to. I will win, no matter what. You will not get in my way.” She then stormed off. Dave could not believe that one tiny little girl could be so scary. 

“Why is your girlfriend so crazy?” he asked Finn, the moment he got to glee that afternoon. He just had to know. “Why are the girls being so obsessive when it comes to this prom stuff?”

Finn tried to explain this to the best of his abilities. “Santana and Quinn have this strange idea that something as simple as a prom victory can give them the popularity they need to sail through this year and into their senior year,” he said. “I was like that once and I know you were too, dude. Social status is super fleeting and it’s not going to last, but the girls forget about that.” 

“Yeah that makes sense,” Dave said. 

“Yeah,” Finn said, looking proud of his theory. “Also, Dave, watch out for Santana okay? She’s hot, she’s insanely hot, but she was my first and she’s dangerous.” 

Oh if only Hudson knew. 

-  
“When did you first realize you were gay?” Kurt blurted out while he and Blaine were talking. “And when did you come out?” He had never really met an openly gay person before and the idea of someone else having a coming out story was a new thought for him. He didn’t mean to be rude or blunt but he knew Blaine would share. 

“It kind of hit me in middle school,” Blaine admitted. “Other boys were starting to notice girls and I wasn’t. I was sort of starting to notice other boys, something that was terrifying at best.” 

“What about coming out?” Kurt asked gently.

A pained look crossed Blaine’s face. “Well my freshman year wasn’t pretty,” he said. “I came out to a few people and somehow the rumors spread like wildfire. By the time the year was half over everyone knew that I was gay. It got back to my cousin and therefore got back to my parents. We did have a good conversation about it though and they’ve been decently supportive.” Blaine forced a smile. “What about you?”

“I knew from a pretty young age,” Kurt said. “I um, officially came out sophomore year but my dad said that he knew since I was three…” He chuckled at that fond memory.

“Wow, three?” Blaine asked. He looked at Kurt and then asked uncomfortably, “Kurt are you out to everyone?”

Kurt nodded.

“Wow, I wish I was,” Blaine said.

Kurt stopped where he was, staring at Blaine. “Wow,” he whispered. He had never really thought about Blaine not being out to everyone. He had never thought about coming out as gay as a half and half kind of thing. He didn’t address this with Blaine though, because he had already crossed too many lines. He could tell that Blaine wanted to change the subject, so he did. “Get this,” he said. “Santana and Dave are dating and apparently running for Prom Queen and King.”

Blaine looked shocked. “They are? Why?”

Kurt nodded. “She’s blackmailing him,” he said honestly, “but he’s agreed with it, because she sympathizes with how he feels beneath it all.”

Blaine tried to be understanding. “That’s a really dangerous situation,” he said. “They’re both using each other.” 

“Yes they are,” Kurt said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and I’m gonna watch very carefully.” 

After that, Kurt decided to change to a much more dangerous subject. He had decided to ask Blaine to go to Prom with him a few days before. It took a long time before he finally was able to blurt out the words, “Will you go to prom with me?” but they blurted out just after the conversation about Santana and Dave.

Blaine looked uncomfortable. He tensed and squirmed and just looked sick or something.

“What is it?” Kurt asked.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go,” Blaine said looking at Kurt sincerely. “It’s just that the last time I went to a dance I was beaten up pretty badly. It was just after I’d come out at school and I went with a boy who I was very close to. We were really…really badly beaten up.”

Kurt was stunned. He felt awful for asking Blaine even though he had no way of knowing. “I am so sorry!” he said. He was so guilty.

For a while Blaine just sat there in silent contemplation. He looked at Kurt with his big brown eyes and then something crossed over them. “You know what Kurt? I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “You’re really inspiring to me and I don’t want to run away from another dance. Let’s do this.”

After that Kurt’s prom planning became more and more eager. He knew that Blaine was risking a lot for him and facing his fears. That meant that Kurt was going to give the Warbler the best night ever.

His outfit was a Hummel original. It included a kilt. Kurt felt that he rocked the look.   
His father, however, was less than pleased with his outfit choice. “You shouldn’t wear that Kurt,” he said. 

Kurt was stunned. “Why not?”

His father was gentle as he explained but Kurt couldn’t help the fact that he was infuriated by it. “Kurt, you know that I love you and you know that I support any choices you make. I’m just afraid of how people will react to you if you dress a certain way. There could be alcohol flowing at this prom; you and I both know that kids come to these things drunk and feelings, anger could flare up. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

Kurt sighed at that. His father was being reasonable but there was still no way he could back down. “I have to be myself, Dad,” he said. “I have to be myself or I’m lying to please everyone else.” 

“Just think about it, okay Kurt?”

He sighed. Nothing ever went right in his life it seemed. Prom, however, had to go awesome. That was one night in his life that he deserved. He kept preparing as planned because he only had a few weeks to go and he wanted to make the absolute best of them.


	9. Chapter 9

Santana and Dave sat across from each other at the Lima Bean. They looked at each other uncomfortably. Dave could not believe that their entire school was deluded enough to believe that the two of them were actually dating. He didn’t even believe it for a second. “Do you like girls at all?” Santana asked him gently.

He shook his head after hesitating for a second. 

She sighed. “Well, I like boys a little,” she said. “Not as much as girls but enough to be really, really confusing.”

“Maybe you’re bisexual,” Dave said. He realized how ignorant they both were. Dave realized just then how limited both of their understanding was. They grew up in Lima, Ohio. There was so much complexity to the world that a limited web search could not reach.

“This sucks,” she said and well, Dave had to agree with her. She paused and then asked him something totally out of left field. “Are you in love with Ladyface Hummel?”

Dave faltered. He had no idea how to answer Santana’s question. By the look on her face, however, he surmised that he had already answered. 

“I get it,” she said. “Entirely and it sucks. I feel like a coward.” 

He knew just what was going on in her head. She felt like she was a coward and could never be good enough for the person she loved because of it. She was the only thing holding herself back. “I’ll help you out, okay?” he said.

“You can’t help yourself,” she reminded but there was a gentleness in her eyes. Something had grown between the two of them. 

“Maybe we can help each other out of this mess.” 

“Maybe,” she admitted, surprisingly vulnerable. “I just want to focus on prom though.” Santana then proceeded to tell Dave in elaborate detail just how they would win. He mostly tuned her out but her realized how much it meant. Something so little and so insignificant could give her high school years the peace she wanted. Both of them just really wanted peace.

Peace didn’t come easily but they both kind of found it. Dave, to his surprise, found that a lot of his peace came through the glee club. He entered the glee club and sat down, taking comfort in the fact that he had some sort of weird camaraderie with the glee kids, even though they didn’t know nor did they understand what he was going through. Soon Mr. Schue called the club to order. Dave didn’t really pay him much attention until he started addressing the issue of new singers. “Now, don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I love the voices that we hear in the spotlight, but we need new voices. I’d like to see some of you who rarely perform your own work start preparing songs…”

Kurt leaned over towards him. “Have you thought of singing?” he asked. 

Dave froze up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sing, it was that he couldn’t. He honestly wasn’t even a fraction as talented as the people that were in glee club. The idea of him singing alongside them was bad enough. If he started singing out loud where they could distinguish his voice he’d be mortified. “No!” 

“I get being scared,” Kurt said, “but you’re very good. Maybe you and Santana can sing a duet, being that you’re a couple and all.” There was a mischievous glint in Kurt’s eyes that taught Dave something new about the boy he cared so much about. Kurt was a bit of a smartass sometimes.

Dave glared. 

“Or with a group,” Kurt suggested, raising a hand. The smirk still remained. 

Santana chose that exact moment to interrupt. “Porcelain’s got a good idea there,” she said. “You can help us choose a song.”

“I’d love to,” Kurt said.

Dave groaned. Just great.

Kurt watched amused as Santana and Dave bickered. If their sexualities didn’t mismatch then they would be the perfect old married couple. “Maybe a song about secrets,” Kurt said with a slight grin and then immediately felt bad. He was being too hard on them. He gave them a gentle smile to let him know he didn’t mean it rudely.

“What are you talking about Hummel?” Santana asked, glaring at him and then glaring at Dave. Kurt could see her inner panic.

“I’m sorry Santana,” he said. “I just thought it’d be a nice, cathartic type thing.”

When the time came for Santana and Dave to perform a medley of “Secret” songs, the mash-up was not just cathartic for the two teens – it was good. Santana and Dave were brilliant performers who may not have been sexually compatible but he wasn’t even sure they realized how good friends they were. He was glad that they found each other, even if it wasn’t in the most comfortable way possible.


	10. Chapter 10

On the night of Prom, Santana checked Dave out. She stared up and down him with a skeptical expression on her face, but eventually her intense expression softened.  
“What are you doing?” he asked her. 

“Making sure you’re decent,” she huffed out.

“Do I pass inspection?” Dave asked her bitterly. He knew that this meant a lot to Santana but honestly it was starting to drive him crazy. He didn’t know what to do anymore. He just wanted, more than anything, for the prom to be over. 

“This is important,” she said, as if Dave had not heard that from her a million other times before. “You do look good though.”

Feeling bad for her, he squeezed her arm. “Hey,” he said. “I’ll do my best…”

She smiled at him a little. It was the most genuine smile that he had ever seen on Santana before. Her smile turned snarky quickly though. “You do know that Ladyface is going with Prep School Gel Head right?”

“Yeah,” he said with the same bitterness. “I also know that Brittany’s going with Wheels.”

His jealousy ate at him. He truly and honestly could not stand the idea of Kurt being at the prom with another guy. He definitely had feelings for him, something that was driving him out of his mind. He liked the other boy a lot. “Santana I’m sorry,” he said after a short time. He felt bad for Santana because he knew the exact pain that he was going through. She knew how badly it sucked to be held back. 

“Let’s just do this.” 

When they entered the decorated auditorium, Dave looked around it. He had to admit that it didn’t look like the hell that was McKinley High. It looked almost magical to him in a way. He smiled a little bit at it and looked at his girlfriend. She smiled too. He was really uncomfortable being here under so many sad false pretenses. It wasn’t okay.   
“Relax darling,” Santana said, emphasizing the word darling with sarcasm.

Slowly they began to mingle with the crowd. It was kind of fun. Once Dave was relaxed, he and Santana even danced a little bit. He decided then that he really liked her, despite the fact that she was a bitch. He understood the fact that she was like she was for a reason. He cared about her a lot through all of this. She stared across the room to where Brittany and Artie danced and his heart ached for her. 

That was when he saw Kurt with Blaine. The two were near the wall, talking energetically. He sighed softly. He was so stupid. How on earth could he be in love with Kurt? He briefly met the boy’s eyes and smiled weakly before carrying on. He had to keep moving. He looked to Santana and she saw. They were both so incredibly pathetic.

“Santana, I’m sorry,” he said as he met her eyes when they returned to his. Her sadness drew his gaze back to Kurt and Blaine. 

He tried not to meet Kurt’s eyes again.

It seemed very soon that Figgins came on stage to announce the winners of Prom King and Queen. Dave sighed and took the stage when he was instructed to. He did think that winning would be nice, but it was a lot of pressure to be put in front of people like this, especially when he was living a lie. He walked up and stood next to the other male contenders. 

Figgins opened an envelope that was in his hand. He looked at the contents and a smile crossed the principal’s face. “Your Prom King is…David Karofsky!” he announced.  
Dave didn’t know how to react to this. His heart was pounding wildly and he looked around to make sure he’d head his name. He was honestly stunned. He hadn’t told Santana this, knowing how much Prom meant, but the other guys running for Prom King had a lot better social standing then he did. He’d won?

As Figgins crowned Dave and opened the second envelope, Santana smiled. They had done it. Figgin’s face froze as he read what was on the second sheet of paper. “Your Prom Queen is…Kurt Hummel…”

There was a stunned silence that started on stage and spread over the whole crowd. Everyone stared in shock. Dave saw what was on some of the faces though and it wasn’t shock – it was fucking smugness. His heart leapt up into his throat as all eyes in the room moved over to Kurt Hummel. No this couldn’t be happening. Dave’s eyes blurred as Kurt looked around him in horror. The terror in Kurt’s eyes made his heart melt into nothingness. This couldn’t be happening. 

Kurt looked around like he was going to cry. Dave fully expected to see the other boy break down crying in front of the audience, but instead he turned and took off running. It was like a sudden, terrible blur and Kurt was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Kurt ran out as fast as he could. His eyes blurred and he sobbed. His heart was pounding. He couldn’t believe that they would do this to him. He had honestly believed that McKinley was moving past its days of barbarically bullying a gay kid. Why had he even begun to think such stupid things? The world was never going to change. People were never going to do anything except for hate and hurt and make other people suffer.

“Kurt!”

He stopped by a locker and turned to see Blaine standing there. Kurt didn’t let him get in a word before he started yelling. “Blaine, don’t you dare tell me it’s going to be okay!” he yelled. “I tried my hardest and I honestly thought that things were getting better. I honestly thought that I could show you the world was getting more accepting and that we’d be okay but obviously I lied. Obviously nothing is ever going to be alright!”

Blaine stepped forward and pulled Kurt into a hug. He held him tightly and Kurt just sagged there. “I’m so sorry Kurt,” he whispered. “It’s going to be okay…”

Kurt couldn’t stop raving. “Never is,” he said softly. “Never is Blaine!” 

He then realized that he had only one thing left to do. He hadn’t even thought about the choice he had to make and the choice was already made. He had to go back into the room. He had to stand up to them even though he felt hopeless. 

“I have to go back in,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Blaine asked.

“Yes.”

He then went back into the decorated gym. All eyes were on him. He could feel the burn and he hated it. He hated everyone who thought they could humiliate and ruin him. He did his best to still his terror and the only way he could do that was through his anger. He was angry and a little bit hateful. That was okay. That would do. He forced himself to speak when he took Figgin’s microphone. Only two words came out at first: “Thank you.”

Then he found the rest of his words. 

“Thank you for making me stronger. Thank you for making me realize that as many times as terrible people will beat me down, I’ll always come back fighting. It may never get better but if I stop fighting then I’m compromising myself. So thank you.”

He looked to Dave, hoping that the Prom King was prepared to dance with him. Dave looked naturally terrified. Kurt walked up to him and took his hand. He nearly told him to come out then, but knew that was an intensely personal choice and he couldn’t make it for him, not even in crisis. Figgins took the hint to start the band playing again. Kurt pulled Dave close despite the terror. Dave took his hand and they danced. It was an awkward dance and Dave seemed like he wanted to melt away and die but at the same time it was good. It was comforting.

After the music and their dance came to a close, Kurt found himself looking into Dave’s eyes. There was so much there. There was so much more than he’d ever expected. Dave smiled and Kurt concluded that he was grateful for him.  
“Fag!” someone yelled as Kurt got the two of them off the dance floor. It was nothing that he hadn’t heard before, as tiring as it was. 

“Lay off,” Dave huffed. “Hummel aint never done anything to nobody. It was a stupid prank.”

“You got what was coming to you too Karofsky,” the kid said sneering. He stepped forward. “This was your punishment too, you know? Hanging with the glee queers.” 

It seemed that time froze for a moment. Kurt stared at Dave. A look of sadness and resolution crossed his face. He looked around frantically like he was hoping for a way out of the moment. He looked like he would do anything to make his torment stop. Kurt wished that he could make the torment stop for the both of them.

-

Dave looked to Kurt and thought of his bravery. The other boy had continuously fought against those who would oppress him. He constantly lived and fought and struggled. He was the bravest person that Dave had ever met in his life. He would never back down from the fact that he was gay if he had the option to hide it that Dave did. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” he said, meeting Kurt’s eyes. “I am.”

The reaction started as a whisper but slowly spread back away from them and through the crowd. It spread like a disease, infecting everyone nearby who had heard. They didn’t even care that the person they were whispering about was standing right in front of him. Karofsky was gay. That was all there was to it. 

Dave’s mind descended into an immediate shutdown mode, an immediate panic. He couldn’t breathe. He’d said it. He had said it. That was all there was to it. He had said it and it was out and now the world was spreading it like a virus. He couldn’t breathe. Oh god, the illness had started to kill him, hadn’t it?

Dave felt movement as Kurt got him out of the gym, but he did not open his blurry eyes to see until they were in the choir room. He looked around it and felt that he was going to faint. Kurt got him a chair and forced him to sit down. For a guy that didn’t seem like much physically, Kurt was very capable of hauling Dave around. Dave felt that he was in very capable hands. Kurt sat him down and then gently rubbed his shoulders. 

“I am so proud David,” he said. “So so proud.”

Dave just collapsed into himself. He leaned back in the chair and shut his eyes but even when he wasn’t seeing the world was a blurry swirl around him. There were so many things going on in the back of his mind. He didn’t know how he was supposed to survive. “I can’t breathe Kurt,” he said. He really felt as though he would never be able to breathe clearly again. This was everything he’d ever feared.

Wait.

The realization dawned on Dave slowly but it dawned on him nonetheless. He had just lived his worse fear. He had lived it and though he felt that he could barely breathe, he was breathing. 

He was alive.


	12. Chapter 12

Dave’s bullying was immediately terrible. If people couldn’t handle an obviously gay kid, they most definitely couldn’t handle one that passed. They couldn’t handle that Dave had been masquerading for years as one of their own. They were horrible and awful to him. Dave’s fear, to Kurt at least, was obvious. He looked around every time he moved. He was tired from lack of sleep and he was just terrified. Kurt hated to see him in so much pain.

Kurt just hoped that he and the other glee club members could offer Dave some support and protection.

On the second day at school after Dave’s coming out, Kurt saw the slushie coming. It hit Dave square in the face and Dave stared at it in complete shock. It didn’t seem like he had the ability to react to the attack. To Kurt’s surprise he wasn’t the only one helping. Santana was with him. He and Santana got to Dave at the exact same time and immediately hurried him off into the safety of the nearest bathroom. It was a staff restroom that was rarely locked. They took advantage of it.

Santana was actually the one to care for Dave and push him to the sink. It was surprisingly maternal for her. She caught his eye and shrugged. “Hey, he’s my boy,” she said with a slight laugh. “I guess the lug grew on me.” 

They cleaned Dave up as well as they possibly could. Dave just looked broken. His face pale and his eyes lined with dark circles, he just looked hopeless. It broke Kurt into little pieces and when he looked at Santana he knew that she felt the exact same way. “I don’t get it,” Dave whispered, wiping his face with the cloth he’d been given. “What’s so bad about being gay? Why does it matter to them so much that I like the wrong kind of person?”

Kurt felt helpless. He didn’t know the answer to Dave’s question, because he’d asked it himself for years to no answer. “We need something,” he said. “We need some kind of LGBTQ group here, so that it’s made known that this isn’t acceptable. We need to have something to use as footing, a name when we stand up against what’s happening to us. We need to stop the admin from looking the other way.” 

“They don’t give a shit about gay people here, Hummel,” Santana snapped. “We live in Ohio, for God’s sake. The gay brigade wouldn’t even be allowed here.”

“I need help,” Kurt told her. Santana had charisma and popularity. If there was some way that they could offer the queers of McKinley some protection then he needed someone like Santana on his side. 

“Nobody’s going to come to us as a group if we did something like that,” she snipped. “They don’t give a shit.”

“People might not use the group as a resource but there’s a lot of power in having a group name to put to our voices,” Kurt said, thinking and speaking at the exact same time. “We can at least have a name.”

“I’m in,” Dave said. He hadn’t said anything up until that moment, just staring blankly ahead of himself. He then turned towards him and said those two words, two very powerful words that meant a lot. 

Santana relented at Dave’s words. “Fine,” she said. “Maybe I can get some help and advice from Brittany’s mom. She’s a lawyer who Britt says has defended a couple of unicorns in her day.” Kurt looked at her at the words and she just shrugged. 

Maybe there was hope for them.

-

As the McKinly High LGBTQ Representation Society was formed and began to grow, Dave put all of his energy on that. The Unicorn Club as Brittany put it with a bright smile on her face, was the only thing he had to focus his energy in aside from the Glee club. It was something that kept him focusing on the good and not the bad of his new life. It was something that he put his energy in wholeheartedly.

As he did that the year started to draw to a close. There were tests, a lot of work and other things. He kept close to people like Coach Beiste and Mr. Schue, staff members that at least cared about him. He was making sure that everything turned out the way that it was supposed to. His junior year was ending and would quickly merge into his senior year. There was no way that he was going to let his final year of high school be as awful as the ones before it. He had hope.

Their first meeting was in the last week of May. There was only enough time left for a few before the school year ended in the middle of June, but it was enough for them to establish themselves and start to feel the water. It was a good thing. Coach Beiste not only acted as the staff representative of the club, but Dave also felt that she stood guard in a way. There were very few who would cross the formidable woman.

Dave looked at the small group. There were actually more people than he thought because of the glee club. It didn’t matter if they weren’t gay – those kids were as supportive as they could be. Dave was really glad to be friends with them.

“We’ll do big things our senior year,” Kurt said in the middle of it, approaching him cautiously.

“We will,” Dave said. “I’m slowly starting to dael with this gay thing.”

“Yeah?” Kurt asked.

“I see now that there’s not any difference between a gay dude and a straight dude,” Dave said. It wasn’t particularly eloquent but that was as best as he could put it. “We’re all the same kind of people in the end.” 

They were. 

“I’m glad I get to see the real you now,” Kurt told Dave. Dave was really glad that Kurt got to see who he was too. Even though the process to get there was difficult, it was worth it. “What are you going to do this summer?”  
Dave thought about that. “Probably not too much,” he said. “My family usually goes on a small trip every year but it’s never anywhere far or extravagant. The summers are usually boring for us.” He had a feeling that boring would be comforting after the year that he’d had. He needed it to get by. “It’ll be fun. What about you?”  
“Mine will be boring too,” Kurt said honestly. “Would you like to spend some time together?” His expression was shy, coy and almost adorable. Dave couldn’t imagine anyone cuter than Kurt. It was incredible. He nodded.  
Kurt then took a breath. “Um would you like to go on a date maybe?”   
Dave was shocked. He didn’t understand. Kurt Hummel was asking him out on a date. It didn’t compute at all. His brain couldn’t wrap itself around the idea. “What about that Blaine guy?” he asked. He had always assumed that Kurt was going to start dating the Dalton boy. It just seemed inevitable.  
“We’re just friends,” Kurt said. “I had a little crush on him when we first met but just out of mad admiration. Blaine actually has a crush on the Warbler captain Wes, although he may be completely straight. We’re still trying to figure that one out. Anyway, I really like you Dave and would like to go on a date if you would.”  
“Why do you like me?” Dave asked before he could stop himself. He didn’t mean to sound so insecure.  
“I just do,” Kurt said. “You’ve come so far, you know that? You’re a great person. You’ve learned so much and you’re so brave. You’re also adorable.”  
With that, Dave’s confidence rose immensely. “I like you too, a lot,” he said honestly. There was nothing he didn’t like about Kurt.  
Kurt looked at him for a long moment. He then smiled brightly. “You’re unbelievably cute,” he said, which made Dave blush. Dave however, didn’t have long to blush because Kurt took a few steps forward into Dave’s space and then kissed him. The kiss came naturally, their bodies slipping up against each other and Kurt’s hands going to his face. It was gentle, sweet and loving.   
“Wow,” Dave whispered.  
“Hey look, our first kiss,” Kurt said before pulling back and looking into Dave’s eyes. Dave couldn’t express how much it meant to him that they were sharing what was their first kiss. It may have not been the first time their lips touched but it was their first kiss. He slipped his hand down into Dave’s and held it for just a moment.  
Dave looked at their joint hands. Kurt was so tiny and so delicate, physically, but it was funny because mentally he was anything but. He was brave and strong and amazing. “Hey Kurt, I really do intend on coming out to my mom and dad soon.” It seemed very out of place but just wanted Kurt to know that was the case.   
“I promise to help,” Kurt said.  
Their first date was a week and a half after school let out for the summer. They had decided for it to be casual, to keep theme both at ease. It was just going out for dinner. That was all.   
D couldn’t help panic a little as he waited outside of the restaurant for Kurt. He was pretty sure that he looked like an idiot just standing there and staring. He kept shifting from foot to foot, avoiding the gaze of anyone who passed by. He was really nervous. Kurt was really perfect and everything he had ever wanted. He had come so far when it came to being gay too. He heard the snickers and felt the stares everywhere he went but he cast them out. He was better than that.  
Kurt arrived then. He was absolutely gorgeous. It wasn’t just his fashion that was put together. Every detail of Kurt Hummel had been thought out and planned to perfection. “Hi,” he said to Dave shyly.   
“Hi,” Dave said. They were quickly shown to a booth in the back. Dave knew it was silly to be this nervous. It was Kurt and he cared about Kurt and it was all going to be alright. Dave decided as the date began that they were all going to be okay. They were doing everything they were supposed to. Their relationship had started at a rocky place but it was all going to be okay. They got a new start.


End file.
